- By Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and MP for Botany
Our Government has just wrapped up delivering on our Quarter Three (Q3) action plan, which placed a focus on restoring law and order and improving our public services.
We passed four new pieces of legislation related to this focus, including our Gangs Bill, which bans gang patches in public and gives police the power to issue dispersal and non-consorting notices.
Other pieces of legislation will make it easier for police to get guns out of the hands of criminals, increase access to rehabilitation for those on remand, and improve the efficiency of our court system.
We’ve also introduced our sentencing reforms, which will ensure that criminals receive tougher sentences that reflect the harm they cause to their fellow Kiwis.
We’ve been focused on improving the quality of public services that all New Zealanders rely on by replacing Three Waters, and signing a new speed limit rule to make sure that Kiwis can get to where they need to quickly and safely.
A draft of the new primary school English and maths curriculum has been released, and the plan has gone out for delivering on our health targets, which include faster cancer treatment and improved immunisation for children.
Our goals for Q4 revolve around rebuilding the economy, and making it quicker, cheaper, and easier to get infrastructure built in New Zealand.
We need to build modern and reliable infrastructure in order to grow our economy and improve New Zealand’s productivity and prosperity.
We’ve just announced 149 projects for our Fast Track Approvals Bill, which we expect to pass by the end of this year.
Among these projects is the consenting of up to 55,000 new homes and 180km of new road, rail, and public transport routes.
These projects will revitalise the New Zealand economy after years of slow growth.
Q4 will also see the first Resource Management Amendment Bill passed, and the introduction of further legislation to reform the RMA and make it easier to get things done.
New Zealanders will be able to head into summer confident they have a Government focused on walking the talk and delivering for them.
